


Ad Hominem

by blacklid



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-09
Updated: 2008-10-09
Packaged: 2017-10-26 05:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/279247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blacklid/pseuds/blacklid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam doesn't want to be alone anymore. (Speculative explanation for the return of Ruby.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ad Hominem

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aphoenixdragon](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=aphoenixdragon).



> After 3.16, _No Rest for the Wicked_. The title is [both true and a play on words](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem).

The legs of the blue ICU scrubs were too short. The tag in the stiff shirt scratched at the back of his neck. The badge was close enough – it would have to do. He walked meditatively past each door with his head bent low; long bangs disguised the tense shifting of his eyes and he tap-tap-tapped a clipboard in one hand with a pen in the other.

He paused.

Room 3A. Female. Drowning victim. Twenty-three.

He glanced around checking for potential interruptions before hanging the shift clipboard next to the door. Name: blank. Nurse’s time in: 4:03AM. Description: Room Cleaning.

As he strode silently to the bed and looked down curiously, his mind sorted through the rest of the information from his research: enrolled in the psych master’s program at Kentucky State, part-time teacher’s assistant, part-time cake decorator, one yellow car, one roommate, one yippy white dog. The dog had found her. The roommate had called 911 and then her family, unable to explain how their daughter, their beautiful, intelligent, only daughter, had managed to drown -- while lying fast asleep in bed.

Brain activity rated consistently as “minimally responsive” for the last 7 months. Not comatose exactly, but the prognosis was “persistent state”. His bit in a suit as an insurance agent to the hospital advocate had told him all that he needed to hear: the family could no longer afford the level of care she required. They had called everyone they knew. They had tried everything. The family had been informed that they had to choose: a state-funded facility or just let her go.

Just let her go?

 _“Is that what I’m supposed to do, Dean? Just let you go?”_

Brown hair.

He knew from the chart that if she opened her eyes they would be brown, too, but laying here like she was with her hands spread smoothly over her waist and her breathing peaceful, a face almost serene in its quiet, he couldn’t help but see the bright blue eyes of Callie. He hadn’t been able to save her from the big bad wolf. He’d wanted so badly to be able to kiss her flushed cheek - just like in all the fairy tales - wished that he could have found a power inside himself strong enough to wake her so that she could be the sweet, innocent, lively princess that she should have always been, to see a smile on the face of her devoted father.

This girl was no different, though she was more pale and sickly than he thought that she would be.

He reached under the scrub shirt and his own tee and pulled a knotted twist of fabric from the waist of his pants; laid it on the bed. His right hand loosed the string and unfolded the kit. His left hand covered her forehead. It was time to know if she could actually hear her surroundings or if he’d have to give up and move on –- if he'd have to leave her behind, too. He set to work.

~*--W--*~

“Ruby?”

He waited.

“Ruby.”

She stirred.

“Hey.”

The girl opened her eyes, dark brown and red, bloodshot halos around the irises. The lids blinked and the eyes met his and focused.

“Hi, Sam.” Just as quickly as they had registered his face, Ruby closed them.

Sam shifted his weight on the bed and removed his hand from the girl’s forehead. “Is she okay?”

Ruby frowned and opened her eyes. “Is who okay? Oh.”

“Let me talk to her.”

“Just give me a minute. She’s a little... snagged at the moment.” Ruby pulled at the sensors and tubes.

Sam tagged her wrists into his grip before she could cause the alarms to sound. “Don’t. Not yet. We need to follow this through.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I need to see if this worked or not.”

“Well, it obviously worked.”

When he raised his eyebrows and looked at her condescendingly, she took a deep breath and nodded. “She’s here. And she’s fine... Really... I’m serious... Okay, fine.” She closed her eyes and shifted her head on the thin pillow, pressing the girl’s whole body rigidly into the mattress.

He waited.

The girl opened her eyes again, but only in pinched blinks and narrow slits as she peered around the room, finally landing in shock somewhere near his collar bone. “What happened? Where am I?” she asked quietly.

“You’re safe, don’t worry. My name is Sam. Do you remember your name?”

She looked up at him intently, like she was trying to remember a familiar face, “Kristi.”

Sam smiled. “Kristi, we have a lot to talk about and I have something to ask you, but I promise to go slow. Okay?”

~*--W--*~

Lugging in a year’s worth of someone’s life from an ICU ward was actually a fairly quiet affair. People had grown accustomed to the family’s bad news and no one of consequence appeared the day they were called to take Kristi home.

They had barely made it through the door from the hospital before Kristi’s mother wrapped her daughter in her arms again and held her close.

“I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it. My baby.”

They clung to each other for so long that Kristi’s father had trouble walking back and forth around them in the entryway to gather Kristi’s things from the car. He’d just finished, closed everything and put his arms around his two beloved women when there was a knock on the door.

A large young man was stooped in the doorway. His hands were slung deep into the pockets of his jacket and a tiny smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“Sam.” Kristi gasped and withdrew from her mother’s embrace. She tilted her head and looked at him strangely, then reached out a hand to invite him inside, pulling him into an embrace when he reached to accept, “I’m so glad you’re here.” Sam patted her back awkwardly as he watched for signs of bewilderment from her parents and was bewildered himself when he saw none.

Before he could think of anything to say, he was silently ushered into the living room and offered a seat on a checkered loveseat across from two wing chairs. Her parents settled into the chairs and Kristi sat down close beside him with her hands primly in her lap.

“Kristi told us everything,” her mother gestured with a wave of her worn hand and her father nodded and smiled contentedly.

“She did? You did?” Sam turned in his seat to face her, forehead knotted in surprise.

She only smiled.

“Why, yes,” her mother answered, “We have been praying for this. There is definitely a calling on your life, young man. It’s such a brave thing to do, following the path that so many have denied.”

Sam shook his head, “I’m... sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.”

Her father leaned forward with words forming on his lips when Kristi glanced quickly at Sam and spoke, “Mom, Dad, it’s like I said. He’s too humble to talk about it. But he needs our help to reach as many souls as he can. He needs my help. So many people could be saved with these miracles.” Her face contained nothing but poised resolve, “I’m going to go with him. This is my calling, too.”

Her mother’s mouth fell open and she braced her hands on the arms of her chair, “But for how long? What about school, dear?”

Her husband rolled his eyes slightly. “Darling, I don’t think we’re remotely speaking about the same thing. School is done. When you’re called, you’re called. That’s it.” He turned to Sam. “Son? Are you really a healer?”

“Daddy--”

Sam swallowed and grimaced and pressed his elbows harshly into his knees, knew that he had to be sincere, “I hope so.”

Kristi smiled and stood up to hug them before there could be any more questions.

~*--W--*~

She hugged them many more times before they left, promising to visit, write and call as often as possible. Her mother lamented that they had just gotten her back, only to have the Lord take her away again so soon.

Sam hugged her, too, and shook her father’s hand, assuring both of them that he knew exactly how they felt, but he would take care of Kristi just like she was family.

There was barely room in the Mustang for his legs when he got in. He felt horrible that all the things her parents were sending her off with would need to be abandoned in some no-tell motel in the next state but when he looked at Kristi she didn’t seem to be having the same misgivings.

He’d saved her by filling her with another force more powerful than her own could ever be, asked her to understand that it was this or death, asked for her help and sat paralyzed in shock when she’d stared at him wide-eyed with fear and still said yes. Nobody would choose this willingly. He wasn’t even sure that he would, if he was in her place. He tilted his head down like he was resting, but his body didn’t relax.

Kristi cleared her throat and reached out her hand to cover his, pulled his arm up and pressed the backs of his fingers to her lips. He looked down, mesmerized by her action - her thin fingers - and suddenly they seemed like a thinner version, like before. When he met her eyes again, they were dark and full of something new... something gentle.

“Ruby.”

“I promise. We may not be able to save Dean. But we can honor his memory. We can stop Lilith. I’ll show you how.”


End file.
